- Author: Trisha E Rose
Published on: October 2, 2017
August 26, I arrived to work as a Master Gardener volunteer at the Vallejo Farmer's Market 8:42 this morning. Found street parking, good can avoid new $5 parking fee in the regular lots, just need to haul my chair etc. a little further. Today, thought I would chronicle some of the topics we discuss with the public. We don't have answers for all the questions but one of the three of us, Betsy, Patty and myself, can usually provide a bit or more advice from the literature we have on hand or from our training and varied experiences. In a couple of instances we take a sample for further study.
It was pretty busy with many shoppers moving quickly from booth to booth early this morning. When I arrived it was a cool sunny morning at 63 degrees. It is supposed to reach 97 later this afternoon which is very warm for Vallejo and fortunately a rare occurrence.
This morning we have 2 special notices for our booth. First is the September UC Master Gardener Plant Exchange and Marketplace to be held September 16 from 9 til Noon at 501 Texas Street in Fairfield. This was a topic we discussed throughout the day with many comments today about the free exchange of plants. Our 2nd notice detailed a new event planned for April next year. A home garden tour is planned for April 29,2019, this will be a fundraiser hosted by Master Gardeners opening their gardens for public viewing in Fairfield. A number of "save the date" cards were given out throughout the day.
The Master Gardener booth at the Vallejo Farmer's Market is staffed by volunteers from January until mid-November each Saturday from 9 until 2 pm unless it's raining. A number of people routinely stop by the booth and chat about what's going in their gardens. They mention successes and current challenges. The "bug chart" Betsy brings along helps identify both the "bad and good" bugs. The kids really get a kick looking at this chart and learning to understand that many bugs in the garden are actually helping to keep the gardens healthy.
A homeowner stops by desperate for help with irrigation. The Hort Department at SCC offers a class on Irrigation, we offer the instructor's contact info and she is happy with that referral.
Many shoppers are walking by with very large bags of "greens" both familiar and unfamiliar. Some fruit is still available and many have beautiful bunches of sunflowers, roses and orchids.
A few people stop by and ask about the Master Gardener program. We discuss the program and training which begins each year in January and continues through April. Some sign up for further information. Maybe we will see them later as volunteers.
Today it seems like we handed out a number of vegetable planting guides. The guide groups planting times for numerous vegetables for each city in Solano County. This guide has proven to be very popular and helpful for planning when and what to plant given your local.
One enthusiastic junior gardener was delighted with her soon-to-be avocado tree, now sitting in a cup of water growing its first roots from a pit. Sharing her joy was a highlight for me today.
Another stopped by earnestly asking about propagating lavender. I recommended that propagation from cuttings may be a successful route to growing this popular shrub. Temperature and humidity control will be necessary whichever method is used. SCC is currently offering an 8 week intensive course on Propogation, many Master Gardeners including myself are midway through this course. Lots of hands on lab work testing different methods of seed germination, methods for succulent propagation as well as cuttings will be covered in this course. In the future we'll be able to answer questions about various propagation methods more specifically once our course work is completed.
It's close to noon now and it's 88 degrees. We were able to move over to a shady area just vacated. Much better for us and our guests to have a discussion out of the very warm sun.
A woman stops by with a plastic bag holding the worst white fly infestation sample from her Zylosma congestum I have ever seen. Apparently the infestation has been a problem for quite a while. IPM methods are discussed with lots of good luck as well.
One of the more interesting questions we were asked just before closing time was "what kind of Orange Tree does best in Vallejo?" As I have 3 orange trees myself growing in my yard in Vallejo, I commenced to offer an answer. My experience is with the Citrus sinensis 'Dwarf Washington Navel Orange'. My trees are growing and fruiting abundantly. They produce so many oranges that I have to give away bags of them each year. Given my experience I recommend this tree as a candidate for the his home garden. He then asks me to characterize the flavor of the orange. Is it sour, sweet, juicy, pulpy, etc. does it taste like a tangerine? A tangelo? At this point I'm thinking the heat must be getting to us. The Washington Navel Orange has a pure orange juice flavor. The fruit is suited for juicing as well as eating out of hand. Direct drip irrigation to each tree has allowed deep watering away from the trunk.
One of the last questions was a plant ID question. The sample looked a little like a Mimosa. We searched online as well as with our reference library? Not really able to ID. So phone numbers were exchanged for futher research and discussion.
By 2pm it is 90 degrees as we pack up and make our way back to our cars. Next Saturday 3 more Master Gardeners will be back at our booth providing pest notes and information for our lively community of active gardeners.
Comments:
by Betsy Buxton
on October 8, 2017 at 10:01 AM
Trish! You so nailed our booth and the types of things we deal with!! Thanks much for the wonderful photos! I'm sooo very glad that you are a vital member of our "team"!
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